HOUSTON, Feb. 02, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Gas & Electric, LLC (“NG&E”) has entered into agreements for the purchase of retail energy companies with over 500,000 of combined residential customer equivalents (RCEs). Contingent upon closing, along with the previously announced acquisitions dated November 24, 2015, NG&E could house over 600,000 RCEs that are within a similar geographic footprint to its affiliate, Spark Energy, Inc.

“It is truly an exciting and dynamic time in the retail energy space,” said W. Keith Maxwell III, NG&E’s CEO. “With these potential acquisitions at NG&E, we are creating a customer book of significant scale that provides a long-term source of potential dropdowns to Spark.”

NG&E intends to fund these acquisitions with a combination of the sale of a portion of Spark Common Stock held by NG&E’s parent and the leveraging of the parent’s balance sheet. NG&E’s parent, which currently owns over 10.0 million shares of Spark stock, intends to begin sales in the first quarter of 2016. NG&E hopes to close on these potential acquisitions in the first half 2016.

Spark Energy, Inc. (“Spark”) (NASDAQ:SPKE) an affiliated company, successfully closed on its first dropdown acquisition of Oasis Power, from the parent-level on July 31, 2015. While NG&E intends to offer these customers to Spark, there is no assurance that such a transaction will be completed as it remains subject to negotiation of definitive agreements and necessary board approvals.

About National Gas & Electric, LLC

NG&E is wholly owned by W. Keith Maxwell III, who is also the Founder and Chairman of Spark Energy. NG&E is working alongside Spark to develop a strategy that maximizes Spark’s ability to aggressively pursue additional growth through M&A while also serving as a retail holding company for the de-risking of acquired books of customers.

About Spark Energy, Inc.

Spark Energy, Inc. is an established and growing independent retail energy services company founded in 1999 that provides residential and commercial customers in competitive markets across the United States with an alternative choice for their natural gas and electricity. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Spark currently operates in 16 states and serves 66 utility territories. Spark offers its customers a variety of product and service choices, including stable and predictable energy costs and green product alternatives.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein that address activities, events, developments or transactions that NG&E or Spark expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements and the parties’ ability to consummate such agreements, required approvals by regulatory agencies, the possibility that the anticipated benefits from such activities, events, developments or transactions cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or difficulties related thereto will be greater than expected, the impact of competition, and other risk factors included in Spark's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Except as required by law, neither NG&E nor Spark intend to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.